


A Father is a Shepherder

by like_a_bird_that_flew



Series: Child Ballads (of the Songbird and Poet) [2]
Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Eurydice is excited, F/M, Fluff, Hermes finds out, Not Canon Compliant, Orpheus is wholesome, Persephone - Hadestown (mentioned), Pregnancy, They made it out because I said so, just let these children be happy, like seriously this is just pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-25 00:55:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20367973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/like_a_bird_that_flew/pseuds/like_a_bird_that_flew
Summary: Two weeks on from her first revelation, Orpheus and Eurydice wait excitedly to confirm their suspicions so that they can finally tell Hermes their big news.Part 2 of the Child Ballads (of the Songbird and Poet) series.





	A Father is a Shepherder

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second part of my Child Ballads (of the Songbird and Poet) series, so I recommend reading part 1 first.

Orpheus had wanted to tell Mister Hermes about the baby from the moment Eurydice told him she thought she was expecting. The messenger god had raised him since he was very young and was basically a surrogate father to him at this point; who would be a better person to tell first about his own impending fatherhood? (he ached to tell Lady Persephone as well of course, but she wouldn’t be back from the Underworld for at least another 4 months, so that would have to wait).

But his wife convinced him to wait a little longer. She could only be about 6 weeks along at the most and there was still the possibility that she wasn’t actually pregnant. She insisted on waiting until her stomach had started to swell so that they could know for sure. To be honest, she was somewhat impressed that he hadn’t accidentally let it slip to Hermes already, or that Hermes hadn’t guessed on his own; Orpheus had never been good at masking his emotions and for the past two weeks he had been walking around in a state of pure elation.

So the young lovers waited eagerly for any signs of life within Eurydice’s womb. In the past, Eurydice wouldn’t have let herself get her hopes up; not wanting to tempt fate into snatching her happiness away from her once again. But that was back then. Now she had Orpheus, and seeing his love and excitement made her excited too. For the first time in her life, she allowed herself to hope for something that she wanted. And she wanted this so badly.

She was in luck because this time it seemed like her hope had finally paid off.

It had been 2 weeks since her initial revelation, a full month since her missed period was due, and 2 months since her last. Her nausea persisted, making Orpheus more concerned than ever; feeling guilty that his child was causing his wife’s sickness (Eurydice very quickly set about reminding him how they were both equally to blame for her condition). Every day she checked for blood, and every day it never came. It seemed that the odds were very much in their favour.

On the morning that marked 2 months since her last period, Eurydice was lying in bed whilst her husband made breakfast along with some tea that was supposed to stop nausea. Orpheus had spent most of the past two weeks researching symptoms of pregnancy, and home remedies that might ease her sickness. Eurydice, already easily emotional (they hoped this was another sign) just about melted every time she saw Orpheus’ enthusiasm to help, so happy that he was taking this seriously and not getting distracted by his music anymore. He spent most nights with his hand resting on her tummy, whispering sweet nothings in her ear about all the songs he would write for their baby as if he was trying to speak it into existence.

As she was lying in bed, Eurydice thought about her symptoms again and the amount of time that had now passed. This couldn't be a coincidence, right? The nausea, the mood swings, the lack of period, the newfound tenderness of her breasts (which they had discovered the night before when she yelped in pain from Orpheus’s ever gentle touch). 

Daring to dream, she slipped her hand under her sleep shirt (an old T-shirt of Orpheus' that she wore to bed every night over just her underwear) and rested it on her stomach, feeling around for any sign of a bump. Her eyes widened. She could feel the ever so slight rounding of her belly beneath her palm. 

Worried that her senses were deceiving her, Eurydice got up from the bed and hurried over to the full-length mirror at the other end of their small cottage. 

“‘Rydice darling, what’s wrong?” called Orpheus from the kitchen, worried that her nausea was coming back.

“Nothings wrong, come here please” she replied with a huge grin on her face.

Standing in front of the mirror she lifted her shirt up above her stomach and, standing side-on, she could see it. Small but still there. The tiny baby bump she had just felt.

“Orpheus look” she cried as her husband rushed into the room, “can you see it?”

“See wha-” he started, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw her standing there in all her glory. The warm rays of the sun illuminating her as she stood with one hand lifting her shirt and the other resting on her slightly swollen belly.

She beckoned him over to her and he gladly obliged, coming up behind her to rest one hand on her waist and the other gently on her stomach.

“We did it” she smiled.

“We did it” replied Orpheus, his eyes welling up with tears of joy. 

On the day he and Eurydice were married, Orpheus thanked the gods that they had met and were able to spend the rest of their lives in bliss together. Now, his lover was growing round with their child and he couldn’t feel more elated. They had both had tough lives up to this point. Maybe this was a sign that their luck was changing; that they would be able to give their unborn baby the childhood they never had.

Orpheus took both of his wife’s hands in his, running his thumb over the simple wedding band on her left hand. He knelt down in front of her and pressed a kiss to her bare tummy.

“I love you so much, thank you for this” he mumbled against her skin. 

“I love you too” she replied. She brushed her fingers through his hair gently before pulling him up by his shoulders into a kiss. His hands squeezing her hips slightly as her arms came to wrap around his neck.

“Does this mean we can tell Mister Hermes now?” asked Orpheus excitedly as he pulled away.

“Hmm I suppose so,” said Eurydice, giggling at his enthusiasm.

**…**

Later that evening, Hermes could tell from the moment Orpheus and Eurydice burst into the bar, that they were about to drop a bombshell on him. The two young lovers walked hand in hand giggling together as they sought him out from across the room. He thought to himself “this ought to be good”.

“Mister Hermes, Mister Hermes! We have some amazing news” said Orpheus as he and his wife made their way over to his father figure. The pair of them had practically skipped over to the bar where they knew they’d find Hermes; desperate to finally tell him their big news.

“Hello, poet and Lady poet. What can I do for you this fine evening?” he asked, smirking good-naturedly at the young couple who could barely contain their excitement.

“We have something to tell you” smiled Eurydice.

“I’m all ears” 

“We’re having a baby!” exclaimed Orpheus whilst wrapping an arm around his wife, pulling her close to him.

Hermes would be lying if he said he wasn’t taken aback for a moment. Whatever he was expecting to come out of the poet’s mouth, it definitely wasn’t  _ that. _

However, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Orpheus and Eurydice may be young but they were fiercely in love (not to mention they could barely keep their hands off each other most of the time), this was bound to happen sooner or later. Maybe he hadn’t expected it to be quite  _ so _ soon, but still, he was happy for them.

“You mean you’re-” he started, turning to face Eurydice.

“Yeah, I’m pregnant!” nodded Eurydice excitedly, cutting him off before he could even finish his question.

“Well, my congratulations to you both.” He moved to hug the two of them. “Do you know when you’re due?” he inquired.

“We don’t know exactly but by my estimations, the baby should be born around the start of summer, and we hope so ‘cause that means Seph will be back” answered Eurydice.

“Well, I think this calls for a celebration don’t you?” 

The two lovers simply smiled at each other again, already knowing what the mischievous god was about to do. 

“Everyone, listen up” called Hermes, getting the attention of the other bar patrons.

“A toast to Orpheus and Eurydice,  _ and  _ their unborn child!” he announced. The bar, which was full of regulars who knew the pair well, promptly erupted into cheers.

The god looked on at the young couple; the boy he had raised into a young man and the young woman whom he had taken as a wife. They were now receiving congratulations from the other patrons. Hermes considered how far they had come. Orpheus might not be rich but they were far better off than where they were 2 years ago, and Eurydice definitely never went hungry anymore. He could tell that as long as they were together, their future was bright, and he couldn’t think of two people who would be more loving parents.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading part 2, subscribe to be notified when I post part 3, I already have ideas! (Persephone is going to show up soon I promise. Comments are greatly appreciated.
> 
> The title comes from the song ‘Wilderland’ by Anaïs Mitchell


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